


Other Places

by missema



Series: Kirkwall Tech [19]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Backstory, Blackmail, Drug Use, F/M, Ferelden, Minor Character Death, Oral Sex, Poverty, Recreational Drug Use, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-03-25 09:33:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13831395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missema/pseuds/missema
Summary: There's a snowstorm heading towards Kirkwall and it brings back old memories for both Melissa and Sebastian. While they are together, they wake up in other places and they have to find their way back together before the storm hits.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not quite finished with the story before this one, Eight Days of Gifts, but I wanted to post this update.

He only wanted to make sure no one was hurt by something he did. As many things as Sebastian did wrong, he tried to stick to that rule.

Which was why he was crawling instead of walking. Walking was unusually difficult in his current state, which was so very stoned out of his mind that crawling felt like a safer option. After all, if he only crawled, he wasn't going to go anywhere he couldn't crawl to. That meant he wasn't going to drive. He couldn't crawl to the car, not unless he could make it down those steps.

The steps didn't look inviting.

His legs didn't want to obey him, but that only made Sebastian chuckle. They were normally such good legs, he couldn't fault them if they needed some time off. His own laughter sounded strange, too slow and loud, but he wasn't still laughing, was he?

Maker, he just wanted the world to stop bending so much. Was that too much to ask? It wasn't normally so bendy. It was beautiful, but unsettling, and he just wanted to feel good. The strange, slightly stretching world threw him off just enough to make him frown. Was there a good way to get down stairs when crawling? He wasn't sure. Sebastian stopped and put a hand on the wall, trying to think.

He might have taken too many. They were pills and it was sometimes hard to tell. They had a fuse on them. It was a mix called Fade Mandrake, made from Dark Embrium, Drakevein and quaaludes, magic and a slightly sleepy euphoria that made his whole body tingle. He wasn't a mage, but even Sebastian could feel the strings of the Fade tugging at him, the dreams begging him to sleep, to temptation.

Sex when he was like this was amazing, as he'd found out in the past. There was just enough heightened sensation that every bit of desire in him felt like it was manifesting physically, pulsing through his veins like molasses.

He might even have some sex, if he could get back to where he needed to be. This club, there wasn't really anyone here tonight, but he could leave. His hotel had a bar, and he'd planned to be there tonight, but then had gone out clubbing instead at the behest of a couple of his friends. And now, here he was, attempting to crawl down the steps from the VIP room. The wall was so soft. Andraste, what was it made of? It felt like velvet, but that was silly, wasn't it? A velvet wall. He laughed into his chest and ran a hand over it before crawling carefully closer to the stairs.

"Sebastian, what are you doing down there?"

"Meckel, you bastard," Sebastian laughed, looking up at his friend. He had to squint, there was a bright purple light shining out from behind one ear, making him look like some sort of spell was being cast from the back of his head. It lit the blond of his hair with a purple tinge, coupled with the fact that Meckel was shirtless, made him look like a desire demon. "I'm going downstairs."

"On your knees?"

"I don't want to hurt anyone," he said patiently. "It's better this way." He had the time to explain, but he did want to get back to the hotel. It must be late by now, though he supposed that didn't really matter.

"Let me help you up. Then we can walk down the stairs together. I promise no one will get hurt." Meckel held out a hand to him, but Sebastian didn't immediately take it.

"Are you sure?"

"I think so. We can just go downstairs and get a cab, and then once you're in the cab, you know no one got hurt. Then you can walk."

Sebastian nodded. That made sense. At least, it kind of made sense. It was good enough for him. He let Meckel take his hand. It was such a soft hand, but he could feel the strength in it as it pulled him to his feet. Sebastian let himself be hauled up, and then stumbled, and was caught, then kissed Meckel, folding him into an embrace as he straightened up. Meckel had a sweet mouth to go along with his soft hands, but even as they kissed, Sebastian felt him gently pulling away.

"I thought you wanted to go to your hotel?" Meckel looked down at him as he asked it, a odd note of coyness creeping into his voice. He knew how Sebastian was, they were of a kind, but both of them were fresh out of their service and about to part again.

"We can," Sebastian answered. "But I really want to finish kissing you first."

Scant few minutes later, Meckel was giving Sebastian the best blow job of his life in the VIP room. Later, he couldn't actually remember that much about it, only that it had been perfect, each stroke of his tongue gently pushing him towards a climax that slowly approached, like a gradual unwinding of a spool of thread. Even years later, Sebastian would look back on the hazy, sensual memory with fondness, because he remembered it feeling so deliciously good in that moment, as if nothing in the world could be better.

People saw them, of course. It wasn't a closed room, but it was a VIP room, and he paid for the privilege of the semblance of privacy. No one was so gauche as to pay enough attention to them that Sebastian noticed, not even as he came hard with his cock between Meckel's willing lips.

He didn't remember if anything else happened, or even much after that besides feeling amazing and the dancing lights of the club, the sounds of bass and music pulsing around him as he floated away.

#

It was freezing in the house. Literally freezing, but houses got that way when there was no heat on in them. Which meant the water probably didn't work either. She sighed and decided not to put off getting out of bed, being warm under a blanket for longer would just make the cold harder to bear.

Melissa got up early for work that morning and tried vainly to make breakfast for everyone else. She got up early most days, but never quite as early as Carver. It was a full day for her, she had to work at the grocery early, and then she had some bookkeeping to do for one of the local shop. It wasn't quite as cold as she'd first thought upon waking, Carver and Bethany must have been awake at some point, there was a fire going that crackled with magic. Beth would have gotten up to light it for Carver and gone right back to bed.

He was out in the barn when she'd finally gotten dressed and ready to go. Sometimes he just spent time out there because it was warmer than the house. They called it the barn, but they never really had livestock. It was always mostly vegetables for them, but once they had a couple of goats, and for a few memorable years before they got to Lothering, a chicken coop. Melissa hated the chickens, but didn't mind the goats. Now it only housed the equipment that was either too old or used to sell, the barn cats that scampered in and out and kept the mice population low, and a few other things were stored in there with the vegetable seeds and whatever else was leftover from goats.

"Carver, I made breakfast," Melissa said to her brother's back, but he didn't turn around. She was carrying her backpack when she entered the barn, but slung the mostly empty bag over her thin shoulders. She was already dressed for work. Her library book thumped gently against her back, but she ignored it as Carver answered.

"Thanks. The roads are frozen but not icy, so the ride on the bike should be safe. If she feels better today, I'll tell her to pick you up," he said, and then turned around to her.

"If she can manage it, I'd be grateful. I'll drive home and put some gas in the car. Need to keep it above half a tank or it will freeze."

"What's there to eat?" he asked, and she could hear the hunger in his voice, and felt her stomach drop.

"It's just oatmeal. But I had some nuts to put in it, so they're on the counter next to the microwave. I couldn't," she stopped and sucked in a shaky breath. There hadn't been enough for them all to eat, and Mother already hadn't eaten. She had a handful of the can of mixed nuts for breakfast. She could eat at work. "I'll pick up some more food at work, and make the soup when I get home. You and Beth make bread."

"We're nearly out of flour. Like always." His voice cracked on the last word, but neither paid attention to it. He was growing so quickly now. Carver had always been a large boy, he surpassed her in height this year despite their age difference, but the childish roundness in his face was being lost to the hard chiseled features of an adult. Behind all of their faces was the gaunt, wolfish look of hunger, and her own frame was too thin, she knew.

"There's cornmeal. Make cornbread, if there's a half cup of flour, you can make it. It won't be a lot," she admitted with a frown, but Carver nodded dolefully.

She needed to get them some more food. He was probably ready to eat ten times a day, and couldn't. If he was, then Bethany was likely to need more than she was getting as well. They all did, but she could worry about herself later. It wasn't like she was doing any growing. But Beth was at the tail-end of a growth spurt and Carver at the beginning, and well, Melissa needed to do more for them.

"I'll get some flour while I'm at work. Do we need anything else?"

"Yeah, money," he said, and turned away from her again. "The plants in the greenhouse are okay. They might be enough for a while, but I haven't checked this morning. Don't want to open the door and let out the heat. It's so cold, Lissy. Can you feel it? Last winter wasn't even like this and we were snowed in."

"I know. I'll get someone to come around and put in the wood stove heater. It'll make our heating bill lower, and the fuel doesn't cost that much. I'm going to see Mr. Hartmann tonight to do the books, and I'll ask him to come by," Melissa said, hoping she remembered.

"Thanks," Carver said again, and Melissa realized he must really be hungry, because he was never this agreeable.

"I'm going. Tell Beth I left the cloth she wanted in the bag in the living room," Melissa said, and then pulled the knitted wool cap as far down as she could before it obscured her vision. It was a thirty minute bike ride into Lothering, and she couldn't afford to be late or frozen.

Carver was right, it was way too cold. At this rate, she was worried that the well water would freeze. The well itself wouldn't freeze, it was underground, but the pipes leading to the house could and had before. That would leave them without water for a very long time. She had to get food first, then she could think about the water. The letter tucked in her bag with her library book taunted her, but Melissa wasn't about to stop to look at it again.

Her test scores were good enough to get her out of almost an entire years worth of classes at college. Yesterday when she'd come home and read the letter, she'd seen the marks that indicated what percentile she was in. Her lowest score was in language and it was still passing. She could take those test scores to any school and they'd have to give her credit for them. The tests were free to take, at least once. The problem was they were notoriously difficult so passing on the first try wasn't expected. She'd studied for months on her breaks and scant days off to earn those scores.

None of it mattered, if she couldn't keep her family alive long enough for her to even go to college. Maker, all she wanted was just to take one class a semester. It didn't matter if it took her a decade to finish school, she wanted to go so badly she'd just take one class if she had to. Just one. But one class didn't matter if she didn't find a way to heat the house and keep the water flowing, the twins from starving and mother from sitting in the darkness staring at nothing all day.

Melissa pedaled faster, passing by the trailer park and the busted cars that lined the way to town in a blur. Maybe if she could only put some distance between her and home, answers might come to her about how they were going to survive this winter.


	2. Chapter 2

Sebastian woke up in his own hotel room. Meckel was nowhere in sight. He had no idea how he'd gotten there. He started to think he was alone, but then a knock on the door and the answering voice let him know he wasn't. Sebastian was up and moving to go to the living room part of his suite when he realized he wasn't wearing any pants.

He should put on pants before he found out who was outside.

It was Meckel. He head him talking to the room service delivery person, laughing, making them laugh. The door closed and Sebastian, abandoning his search for pants went outside in just his underwear.

"You're up," Meckel said as he stood over a plate of bacon. "Good thing, I can't eat all this by myself."

"You stayed."

"'Course I did. We're friends first, even if we fool around a little. Maker's breath, dude, it's about time we slept together."

"You wanted to sleep with me?" Sebastian asked. It wasn't such a strange question, in their rotating band of friends, he'd slept with about half of them himself already. 

"Yeah, but not when you're all high and oblivious. Sit down, eat."

Sebastian did as he was told, looking up at the food over at Meckel from time to time. The food was good, better than good, but his mind wasn't on it. It could be cardboard for all Sebastian tasted of it. His attention was focused on Meckel, and maybe a little too intently because it didn't go unnoticed.

"You're weirding me out, dude."

"Sorry. I just, why didn't you tell me before?"

Meckel shrugged. "You never kissed me like that before. I felt it last night, how much you wanted me."

"You looked like a desire demon," Sebastian confessed, and Meckel chortled with laughter.

"With how much trouble I've gotten you into over the years, maybe I am one. That's kinda a cool thought actually." Meckel was quiet for a while, chewing, looking thoughtfully at Sebastian. It took all of the breakfast for him to work up his courage, but he finally leaned over and kissed Sebastian.

They didn't leave the hotel that day. It was the first time Sebastian ever slept with someone he really considered a friend, and that made it different. Not necessarily meaningful, it was still just fun for both of them, but it was more than he'd ever had before.

#

She stole from work. 

Her hands shook as she did this morning, lank hair falling in her face even after she'd pulled it back into a bun. It was an apple, shining and red as it sat on the cart full of produce, waiting to be put out with the rest. After the ride on the bike, her hands weren't steady. Too far to ride on just a handful of nuts. But no one noticed her pocket the apple on her way to clock in, and she ate it all in giant, quick bites before she began her shift, wrapping the core in a paper towel from the bathroom before throwing it out.

She had to this morning, her paycheck wouldn't arrive until afternoon. The grocery store never paid enough for her to actually buy much food, even with the discount she got. It was hard at first, because Melissa hated stealing, for all that light fingers and moving swiftly came naturally to her. It was never money, Melissa wasn't sure if she could manage to be clever about it if she took cash, the urge to take too much would overwhelm her. No, it was always little bits of things of low value. 

Today she took a can of beans, a package of beef jerky and a box of macaroni and cheese. After she'd taken each one she'd hid it on the way to the backroom so she could put it in her bag. There was the apple she didn't pay for, and swiped a candy bar before it was put on the rack. It was a bad day. She came to work hungry, and that always made it harder to resist. 

There were plenty of things she paid for. After she called Carver to make sure Mother was able to come get her, she bought the flour she'd promised Carver she'd get that morning. Five pounds of it, because it was always cheaper if she bought a lot. Not upfront, but in the end they'd need all five pounds, and she could spare the extra money now to save some later.

"Hey Hawke, you off shift yet?" Javon asked. 

He was an elf that worked in the bakery, often splitting baked goods that were deemed not 'presentable' with her on break. They couldn't sell anything that wasn't pretty. Baked goods were fair game for most of the employees, they were thrown out at the end of each night if they didn't sell. Supposedly there used to be an agreement to donate them, but most just got thrown out. Javon always told her about the good stuff, especially if they worked an all day shift together.

"Yeah, but I've got to go to my other job. I'm late already," she replied, giving him a tired grin. "I'll be back tonight though when my mother comes to get me, so I can finish shopping."

"You'd better, it's supposed to get nasty cold. Even worse than it is now. Hey, I saved you some carrot cake. Fell apart on me in the oven, but it tastes fine."

"Thanks, Javon, you're the best. I'll stop by once I grab my bag." Melissa started walking through the store, pulling off the apron she wore as she did. The music that always played over the speakers seemed overly loud now that she wasn't actively busy, and she rushed to the back to get away from it.

When she got back to the room where the employee lockers were, she walked in on her boss Mae having sex with one of the employees. It reminded her of the time she went to the aquarium in Denerim and the penguins squawked in time as they mated and broke apart like nothing had happened as soon as it was over. They broke apart in their surprise at her entry, grasping for clothes and explanations. She walked around them as she went to her locker, ignoring their sputtered explanations and pleas for her to listen. She had to go to work, and when she got her bag and coat, the scene had her so distracted, she almost forgot her cake.

When she came back for her groceries that night, they'd talk about it. She'd see what she could get for her silence.

#

He wasn't sure if this was a memory or a nightmare. Maybe both.

When he heard Meckel died, he was already in Orlais at university. They'd just emailed the day before, but Sebastian never got an answer. He never would.

Meckel was mugged coming home from drinking one night. Stabbed to death and died just outside of his apartment. He'd gotten an apartment in Antiva City, because he'd decided that he was taking another year off before university. 

They'd been good friends, his father was a Marcher lord from Wycome that came to resettle in Starkhaven when Meckel was a teenager. 

Sebastian still missed him. In his dreams, he cried for Meckel, saw his face as it had been that morning they shared together and cried again. The dream tears turned into a river, the Minanter, and floated him back to Starkhaven, to meet Meckel again at the private school they'd both attended. Whatever Sebastian got up to outside of class never interfered with his grades, so his father had reluctantly let him stay a day student at the private school, and at night had to return home so the guards could watch over him.

He always got out. Always found a way. More often than not, Meckel was one of the people he met up with on the other side of the walls that surrounded the palace of Starkhaven. He remembered Meckel outside the walls, whistling to him so he'd know where they were. Calling him on the phone, begging him to come out and be wild. Stay a little longer, have another drink, "what do we have to lose, Sebastian?"

He shivered in bed alone, close to waking but still just on the edge of sleep. Sometimes, he wished he couldn't dream. Sebastian rolled towards Melissa's side of the bed, unconsciously searching for her.

Meckel would have loved her, not just because she was pretty, but because she was quick. Melissa's hands were quick, and her mind even faster. She would have gotten them out of trouble countless times, then gotten herself into it. Too drunk, too tired to be anything but reckless, too sweet to be able to help falling in love with him, even if he'd been a scoundrel. Maybe it would have been Meckel instead of him. They'd never even meet in this life.

"Lissa," Sebastian slurred as he slid into painful wakefulness, his dreams clinging to him like cobwebs. There was no answer from the other side of the bed.

#

Her second job was bookkeeping, and she was always paid, in cash, under the table. It worked better for everyone that way, though it made her job harder.

Hartmann's son Lucas was home from college when she stopped in. Lucas was infamous in Lothering for sleeping with most of the people around their age. He'd given Melissa her first orgasm that didn't include her own fingers and the privacy of their barn, and for that she always had a soft spot for him. He was a dwarf, and he rightly said he was just the right size to give humans a really good time.

He had a very talented tongue.

Lucas was sitting behind the register when she came in. Hartmann was a general contractor, and did a lot of repair work for the people around town. They also ran a small hardware store, and Lucas was there in the storefront as the bell jingled announcing Melissa's entry.

"Hey Luke," she called out, giving him a smile. The cake from Javon had put her in a good mood, despite the fact that she'd seen two people she'd rather not think about mostly naked. "I didn't know you were home." He was still handsome, stout and completely made of muscle, with fair hair and blue eyes that always flirted. He had a beard now, a proper dwarven beard with all the little braids in it.

"If it isn't the loveliest Hawke," Lucas said, standing up. It didn't do much for his height. "I was just thinking about you."

"Uh-huh."

"No, really, I was but it was business. Your dad had a credit. You can see it in the books. Not much, under a thousand, but there's enough I thought you'd like to know to look for it. Might have to go back a couple of years, but it's there."

"That's actually excellent news. I wanted your dad to come out and install a wood stove for me as soon as possible. Think I could use the credit and pay what's left over?" Melissa asked eagerly.

"Probably. Stay here behind the register and I'll ask," Lucas said. She heard him go into the office where she'd be working in a few minutes and speak to his father. Both Hartmann and son came out a minute later.

"Hawke, I can get over there right now while you're working if you're serious. Won't take too long, and I have to cut into the exterior wall. Your father had a credit of about 270 sovereigns from when he was helping me, and I forgot about it. So if you want, I'll get to it and we can work out payment terms later."

"Yes please, it was freezing this morning."

"Bound to get worse," Hartmann said. "Bad snow coming. No one knows weather like a surface dwarf. We aren't born to it so we learn the signs. This is going to get bad."

"I know. Thank you so much," Melissa said, and he nodded at her. 

"Got a stove I think would be just right for your size house too. I'll get everything loaded up and leave the office to you. Lucas can run the store until Marty Underhill gets here for his shift in about half hour. You need anything ask Lucas."

The elder Hartmann left after reassuring her that it "wouldn't take no time at all" and that the Hawke family wouldn't "never have another cold morning". 

She sat down to work at the desk, getting the books out to check on this miraculous credit that she'd overlooked. She'd just picked up Hartmann's Hardware as a client; she'd been working for the local veterinary clinic and they'd recommended her. She knew nothing of caring for sick animals, although she appreciated that wasn't all they did there. The books there were easy enough to keep in order and they were happy to pay her modest fees. Hartmannn was a little more detailed because of the overlapping nature of his businesses, but he paid her more for the work.

Lucas wandered back into the office once his father was gone, once just coming in and taking something from a shelf and leaving, but the next time he lingered. She looked up to see him grinning at her. 

"Got my tongue pierced," he said, and then stuck it out to show her the stud. "My dad hates it."

"Did it hurt?" she asked, but then shook her head. "Nevermind. When did you do it?"

"Right after I left for school," he said, and then looked back into the store. "Was that the door?" he asked, leaving her to her books again. It apparently was, because she heard other voices on in the storefront as she dove back into the books. The numbers were so calming, Melissa hardly noticed the time passing.

Marty Underhill came in and relieved Lucas from the register just as she was getting started on checking the bank statement against the ledger. The two spoke, but even that little noise was mostly blocked by the door. If it hadn't been open, she wouldn't have heard them at all. She didn't notice Lucas as he stood in the doorway, watching her. She smiled up at him when he finally had her attention again.

"Did you ever take those tests, Hawke?" Lucas asked, moving into her sight. She looked up and gave him a smile after marking her place.

"As a matter of fact, I did. I just got the scores back. I passed them all. Now I just have to get them to a college and save up enough for the expenses."

"So you're here working to save up for school. Good plan," he said, nodding. "I know you appreciate directness, so I'll get to it. Would that kind of dedication stop you from letting me go down on you?" Lucas asked. His smile was hopeful but a little smug. Melissa shook her head, giving in immediately.

"No, it wouldn't." She grinned back at him, but then added, "Lock the door so Marty won't come in and let me clear the desk." She thought of the scene she'd walked into earlier at the store. It wouldn't do if the tables were turned on her.

"It's so sexy when you take command," Lucas said, turning to close the solid oak door behind him. She heard the lock click, and when she looked up, Lucas was taking off his shirt. 

Melissa stripped off her clothes and perched naked on the desk in record time. Lucas pulled her to him in a rough kiss, skimming his hard hands over her nipples, just brushing them into hard peaks as they kissed. He took his time kissing her, touching her, easing her hair from the rubber band that held it in a bun so that it tumbled in a tangled wave down her back. Then he sat down in the rolling chair and pushed it far enough back that he could lean in without falling out. 

"It saves my knees," he explained and then plunged face first between her legs. She couldn't help the moan that escaped her, the perfect mix of his tongue and lips and the hot thrumming desire the welled up in her as soon as he'd suggested it. It had been so long since she'd done anything, she'd almost forgotten how good it was.

"Gotta appreciate practicality," Melissa might have said or thought, but she wasn't sure of either. She let her head drop between her shoulders as Lucas started to find a steady rhythm, and she began to appreciate his new tongue ring.

It was a much better day than she'd anticipated it being when she got up that morning.


	3. Chapter 3

Melissa shivered under the heavy extra blanket that normally just rested at the end of the bed. She'd needed to pull it up to her chin and burrow underneath it just to keep herself from turning into an icicle. Normally warmed to overheating by Sebastian's bulk, he'd rolled away from her at some point during the night, almost to the edge of the bed. In the darkness of the room she could all but make him out as a nearby giant lump that rose and fell in time with his breathing. 

She hated being cold. It was like once she'd been so cold in Ferelden, during those awful days where she couldn't get warm and the house and walls were colder than outside and no blanket could have ever been enough, since then she hated the cold. Sebastian was always warm, which was why he nearly always slept shirtless, but this morning he was bundled onto the other side of the bed, wrapped in his blanket. The KSE house seemed colder without most of the people in residence there, the brothers, like the rest of the school, were still on break between the semesters. They had three weeks off, the week before First Day and the two weeks into the new year to relax before the spring semester started. Maker, she could hardly believe she was graduating.

Rolling closer to Sebastian, she tried to leech warmth off of him. Kirkwall didn't get snowstorms like in Ferelden, thank Andraste, but they were having a cold snap right now that was to culminate in a vicious snowstorm. The temperatures were freezing up at nights and warming just enough during the day to make the ice perilous to walk on. She'd slipped on her way to campus to go to the library and return books at the end of her finals, and Sebastian's car went into a terrifying slide after she'd called him to come get her.

Sleep wasn't going to come back to her this morning, it was just too cold. Instead she inched away from Sebastian's warm bulk and grabbed her phone. The predicted storm was approaching soon, though hopefully not as freezing and awful as the ones she'd endured in Ferelden. Kirkwall got tons of snow in the winter, due to being right on the water and so far south, but it was light, it melted and flowed back into the sea, leaving behind only muddied hems and dirty buildings. No matter how much snow they got, they always acted like it was a brand new phenomena, and shut the city down for it.

Better that than casualties, she supposed.

If there was a storm, she had to make sure everyone was going to be okay. Sebastian would be fine here at the KSE house, he and his brothers had enough food to feed close to fifty hungry young men regularly, and their house steward had restocked the stores before taking some time off. She texted Isabela, but got no answer, which she assumed meant all was well. If Isabela had need of her, she'd get in touch.

That just left Mother and Bethany, and Bethany had just texted her back. "Am working. Clinic full. Call Mother. Will try to get home before snow starts."

She couldn't call Mother with Sebastian sleeping, so Melissa got up, dressed and then left a note for Sebastian. This wasn't a conversation she could find privacy for at the KSE house, especially not at this time of morning. She wanted to go home anyway, but if she could catch up with him before the storm started, she'd invite him there. If not, well, she could always use the time to do other things.

Her phone flashed again, silent in her hands. An alert from the Viscount's Office about the storm, warning people to turn the heat up and stay indoors if they could. That was never a good sign. Melissa had been through too many storms like that in Ferelden, and she shivered even recalling them. She'd better get up and on her way if she was going to get to the store and back before things got bad.

Melissa took one last look at the lumpy Sebastian in bed, and gave in to her desire to kiss his cheek goodbye, even if she wasn't going to wake him, and set off. She had a bus to catch.

#

He woke up alone, but he didn't know it at first. Sebastian rolled over to find a cool spot in the bed where Melissa should have been, and for a few seconds he panicked as his eyes flew open, trying to adjust to the dull grey light filtering in from outside. She should be here, and for a moment panic reigned inside of his head, before he took a deep breath and cleared some of it. Sebastian hated waking up alone.

She'd been gone for a while. The shower wasn't on, so she wasn't in there. He went into the bathroom anyway, to take care of his business. The notes were stuck to the mirror, four sticky notes with her writing on it.

There was going to be a snowstorm, and she hadn't wanted to wake him but needed to make sure her mother was going to be okay. She didn't want to wake him up, and normally he'd really appreciate that sentiment, but not this morning. He wanted her here, to hold her, to be comforted by her. With the dreams and memories mixed he'd been sorting through in his mind, maybe she had tried and couldn't. Or maybe he'd tossed and turned so much that leaving seemed a nice prospect so she could finally rest. Whatever it was, her absence wasn't making it easier to reclaim his sense of calm from the thoughts of Meckel. He wanted to forget, so he forcibly turned his mind away, back to Melissa.

Melissa knew she could have woken him up. Sebastian carefully took down the notes and put them in a stack next to his laptop, the last note, the one that read, "I love you, and I'll try to catch up with you later" on top.

After he took a shower, he turned on the news to hear the weather, but it turned out all of the news was about weather.

#

"Mother, I've got everything here you'll need if you're stuck in for a few days," Melissa said as she walked into the apartment.

"Melissa! Thank you, darling," Mother said, taking the bag from her.

"Your prescriptions are on top," Melissa told her. She'd gotten the food her mother requested and a few extras, picked up the prescription for her depression medication and vitamins. There was always vitamins, especially in times of hardship.

Mother looked tired all the time these days, but she was constantly sewing things for the shop. She and Bethany had a steady business, but were doing almost all custom orders now. It seemed that good costume tailors were hard to find, and her mother was very good. Melissa's clothes always looked impeccable, and she was getting better at the more complex patterns. 

They put away the two bags full of food quickly, and Melissa was pleased to see that there was already groceries in the apartment. Even if she hadn't come over, they would have been okay. Somehow, that knowledge eased a tension inside of her that even her own bout of shopping hadn't been able to assuage. The last thing she unpacked was the chocolate bar Bethany asked her specifically to get, and she put it on her sister's pillow.

"I've got a few things for you. I made a shirt and skirt combination. New patterns I wanted to try out."

"Not pants?" Melissa asked.

"Bethany got the pants." Melissa went over to where her mother had her work hanging on the rolling rack, and took the items from her, giving her back the hangers. The shirt was simple, black with a square neckline, made in a soft, slightly stretchy cotton. The skirt was made of a black and white boucle and had huge buttons down the side. She loved them both immediately.

"Mother, these are amazing. Thank you."

"I'm working on a few more things for you. A dress to go with all that jewelry Sebastian gave you for Satinalia. A couple of tops for summer when you start working. I saw a pattern for a spring coat that would be nice too."

"It wasn't that much jewelry," Melissa said.

"Yes, it was. It was his gift to give, and he wanted to show you how much he cared. Sebastian is really very sweet, darling. So don't feel bad about it, just wear it. That's what he wants, and it should be what you want."

"It is," Melissa said.

"Then it's a good thing I'm making you a new dress. Not that I need to now that you have so much of your grandmother's clothes from the vault, but new things are always nice."

"Don't wear yourself out, Mother," Melissa cautioned but Leandra waved her concern away with one hand. She noticed her mother was wearing a wrist brace, but said nothing about it. Leandra disappeared into the room that had once belonged to Gamlen but now was hers alone, and came out with a bag.

"Here, this is for you too," Mother said, and handed her a large shopping bag. Melissa pushed back the white tissue paper to see that it was full of skeins of yarn. Pretty, real wool that had been meticulously dyed.

"It's so pretty! Thank you," Melissa said and gave her mother a hug. "Where did you get it all?"

"Bethany's friend Merrill. She's thinking about starting up a shop of her own and wanted to do some test batches. If you make something, send her a picture she can use."

She knew Merrill, and probably had her number somewhere in her phone. If snow came in as hard as it was predicted, she'd have time to make at least a scarf or to add to the blanket she'd been working on forever.

"Going home?" Mother asked, just as Melissa was taking a look out the window to check the skies. "You can always stay with us."

"I know, but Sebastian." She stopped and bit her lip. The dimly lit room and her worries about the past seemed so foolish now that she was here. If she'd gotten him up, it would have been quicker than riding the bus, but she'd panicked. In her mind it had just been her, like the beginning of that week in Ferelden. "We didn't discuss our plans this morning, I didn't want to wake him when I left. I had to get going before the storm came."

"Call him and check on him. I don't want him out there searching for you."

"I left a note," Melissa said, but checked her phone anyway, and smiled when she saw the screen.

There was no need to call. He'd sent her eight text messages. The last said, "I'm going shopping because I know you don't have anything good at your apartment and I will meet you there. Call me when you get there." She smiled down at her phone as she read it. Sebastian had opinions about what good food was, and his list was more likely to include wine and prepared food than hers had.

When Melissa looked back up, her mother was smiling fondly at her. "What?" she asked, but still couldn't wipe the smile off her face.

"When I asked if you were going home, you thought of Sebastian, not your apartment."

Luckily, Bethany's keys jingled outside and Melissa went to open the door for her. She was saved from answering her mother, from telling her whenever she thought of home, it felt like the stubbled underside of Sebastian's chin as she slept in his bed, the smell of his aftershave, and the beat of his heart close to hers. That felt like too much to say to anyone that wasn't Sebastian.

"Maker, you're still here? You'd better go, the next bus will be here in about ten minutes. Mother, I got some sandwiches for dinner tonight, and a bunch of bread and sweets from the bakery because they were closing early and had to sell off the half price stuff," Bethany announced. 

Melissa took the hint and started to gather the clothes and yarn Leandra gave her and the empty shopping bags, folded them all carefully and then kissed the two of them goodbye. She was on her way to the bus stop within five minutes, and managed to catch the next one going towards home. She'd text Sebastian from the bus.


	4. Chapter 4

When he checked his phone to see where she was, he was fairly certain she was on the bus. The little dot that represented Melissa was moving too quickly to be on foot, and it stopped every so often near street corners. That had to be the bus. But she was near the apartment and Sebastian wasn't quite there himself, so they'd likely meet up soon. He got there first, and waited in his car, the window cracked enough to let a few snowflakes fall into his hair. He saw her walking up the hill, even as the sky grew gray and more ominously dim, he could see her carrying her bags with her hair flowing out from under her knitted hat.

He got out of the car as she approached, and he walked to her. They met when she was almost nearly to the car, but he pulled her into an immediate kiss, pressing his warm lips to her frozen ones, slipping tongue into her mouth and feeling the gentle clink of their teeth as he pressed deep into the kiss. It was harder than he intended, his kiss, but it was honest and desperate, and he took from her cool softness as much as she offered. Melissa met his need and kissed back, giving and drawing him in closer, so that they were trading enough heat to melt the snow around them. When he pulled back, they were both breathing heavily, but Sebastian pressed his forehead to hers.

" _Sebastian_?" she asked, worry tinging her question.

"Please don't ever leave without saying goodbye again. Please," he said, his voice rougher than he would have liked it to be. Even to his own ears, he sounded scared.

"I'm sorry, Sebastian, I didn't think. I needed to get to Mother," Melissa apologized, and gave him another, softer kiss. She squeezed him tight to her as they embraced, a pulse meant to reassure and underscore her apology. "We should get inside. It's gone from a light snow to big flakes since I left Mother's apartment."

She was right, he realized, when he was able to stop looking at her and focused on the increasingly bad weather. Snow was falling thickly now, and it was growing colder around them. The temperature had certainly dropped since he woke up alone that morning. The dream he'd had, the memories of Meckel, it was still unsettling him even now that he was here with Melissa. Sebastian felt raw, fragile and in need of the break that would inevitably come from a snowstorm. He opened the car to get the bags out, revealing everything he'd bought to prepare for the storm.

They took it all inside in two trips, including his overnight bag. If they were going back to the KSE house they'd have to go now, but neither of them particularly wanted to be there. They wanted, no, what they needed was to be alone together, a feeling that had only increased in him since the storm started. The KSE house was comfortable, familiar, but there would always be someone else there with them, and more than likely, they'd default to him to make decisions since he was president. Most of the time, Sebastian didn't mind, but he just didn't feel like he could today. After the night he'd had, he wanted something more restful and easy than babysitting his brothers as they drank beer, worried about the power going out, and got cabin fever. He wanted just to be alone with Lissa. Fabian would take care of KSE.

When they got inside and were putting the food and mostly alcoholic provisions he'd brought away, she spoke up. "We never talked about what happened at Wall-Eyed Sam's, about Mother's rent, and everything." She took out a tin of her favorite loose leaf peach tea and shot a grateful smile over at him, turning to put it away as he answered.

"You feel like talking?" he asked, surprised. Sebastian reached onto the shelf next to where she'd placed the tea to put away the last thing in his bag, the hot chocolate he'd bought. Melissa moved towards the kettle and he knew she was thinking about making a cup of tea immediately. While she debated silently, he went and sat down in one of the mismatched chairs at the wooden table. "I feel like listening," he said to her.

"The snowstorm reminded me this morning, reminded me of Ferelden. Those weren't good times, you know?" She gave a wet little laugh, and he could hear her trying to hide pain behind it. "I used to work at a grocery store, you know that. Times were hard at home. I got up one morning and a storm was coming, like this one, only colder, worse. South of Ferelden and all of that. I had to work, we were out of food and I knew we'd be stuck. Out of heat. Those are pretty much the conditions where people stop making it out alive."

She took a deep breath and turned away from him. "I'm making tea. Do you want any?" she asked.

"Sure." It was just a way to keep herself busy, but he wasn't going to turn down something hot. The heat was on, but it wasn't quite warm in the ground floor apartment. It was never really toasty in the place unless they got the space heater going. He waited for her at the table, and she took out the tea and milk for them as she put the kettle on.

"Anyway, I went to work, I stole food, walked in on my supervisor having sex with an employee and blackmailed them. Not for a lot. I asked to never lose my job, for better shifts and to 'win' an upcoming employee raffle. They threw in a few other perks to keep me happy and quiet. Then I went off to my other job and did just about the same thing I'd just blackmailed someone for doing, but I had the good sense to lock the door." Melissa poured the water in the teacups as she spoke, only glancing over at him when she finished speaking.

Sebastian cracked a smile at her. "I can't see you dallying at work."

She came to sit with him, setting the steaming tea in front of him, the scent of it curling up to his nose and making him inhale deeply. "I kept books, remember? A lot of work in a secluded office at a desk gives ample opportunity. But the worst part was that I never felt guilty about it, not until much later. It took time to look at what I'd done and see it as wrong." She sighed. "I just needed food that day, and I didn't care what I had to do to get it."

"Lissa, whenever you speak of those hard times, you act like you had no right to do what you needed to do, but you don't have to be ashamed of surviving. I can't imagine that responsibility, the choices between theft and starvation are ones that people writing laws don't know much about," he said, then paused as he considered what else he should say. "I'm glad you're here, that you survived. I know that you did things, but they weren't wrong."

"I wish I felt that way in my heart," she said, blowing out a hard breath. "It was wrong, I was wrong to do it. But I didn't feel guilty about it, not for a long time. I liked knowing that I could make things happen. It was amazing, you know, to feel so powerful after not feeling like I could do anything."

"I've probably done much worse and I've never been in the same kind of position," he admitted. "I just wanted to, or was dared, or something stupid like that."

"What's bothering you, my love?" she asked, and covered his hand with hers from across the table.

"Bad dreams," he said, not elaborating. Talking about Meckel right now would step on her own confession, the one she'd waited so long to tell him. It could wait. "I'm just glad to be with you now."

"We'll be snowed in," she said.

"We're prepared," he answered, almost looking forward to it. He turned to look out the kitchen window over the sink and realized he couldn't see anything even though it wasn't yet even mid-afternoon. This was going to be one hell of a snowstorm, he realized and clasped her hand tighter.

#

Sebastian got up before her the next morning. It was still dark out, or at least that's what Melissa thought until she got out of bed and looked out the window to the inner courtyard of her apartment. It was filled with snow, drifting up in piles on the sides of the building. The snow was still falling thick and fast, blanketing the everything in dense white fleece that must have fallen all night. She opened the window and heard nothing, everything calm around her, smelling of fresh snow and the faint scent of woodsmoke from a fireplace. She couldn't hear the usual street noise that floated up to her apartment, no buses below, no car engines or people talking. Kirkwall was uncharacteristically silent.

She closed the window and put on her slippers, headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. When she came out she went into the living room to find Sebastian. He was there at the big window, looking out just as she'd done. His lone concession to winter was wear an undershirt with his flannel pajamas bottoms, and she saw the muscles in his bare arms tense slightly as he heard her approach. Melissa wrapped her arms around him from behind. He relaxed in her embrace, tipping his head back to rest on hers.

"How much snow?" she asked.

"About nine inches so far."

"You're up before me. That must be a first," Melissa said and felt his chuckle.

"I think so. I opened the outside door to make sure it could open up. I'll go out later and shovel out some of the snow," he said, turning to face her.

"You don't have to, the landlord should come round and do it soon, if he hasn't already. Are you all right?" she asked. He'd been unusually quiet last night, watching her as she started her knitting with the yarn Mother had given her. There had been little conversation between them, but she hadn't wanted to push him when his mind was elsewhere.

"Night before last I had a dream that dredged up some old memories. I'm missing Meckel something terrible today," Sebastian admitted with a sigh. "He was my friend and he died when we were twenty. Murdered. He was stabbed down the block from his apartment in Antiva City, and they stole his wallet, so he wound up a John Doe at the morgue for about a week until they got his military records from Starkhaven." Sebastian heaved a weary sighed and she felt it shudder through him. "He would have loved you."

"My sorrow for yours, my love."

"Thank you, Liss. It's why I was more upset than the situation warranted about you leaving yesterday morning. I'm sorry if it came out wrong. I just, needed you."

"Do you want to talk about him now?" she asked, sorry that she hadn't realized how much he'd needed her earlier. It wasn't guilt, not really, because she understood that he hadn't meant to make her feel bad, but she wanted to make up for it all the same. He shook his head at her.

"Honestly, Liss, I just want to kiss you and I don't want to stop."

They'd been balancing on a precarious wire since the week of Satinalia, and there was a tension between the two of them that was definitely all pent up sexual frustration. Whatever was warring inside of him today, it wasn't about that anymore, and that shift came out tangibly in his kisses. Each kiss was light, soft, but leading, promising heat and sweat and release if she answered him in kind.

Melissa put all of her yes into kissing him back.

#

He wasn't sure when they went from hugging to kissing, but it started out slowly enough. Her arm around him, then he pushed back a lock of hair. Silly, he knew, to try and keep her hair from being in her face with her braid was mangled by sleep, but he did it anyway. Hands sliding up, around his neck, subtly pulling him down, closer to her. When he kissed her neck, his thumb padded over a hard nipple and he lifted her shirt so he could suckle it properly.

Melissa was his heart, and though he'd known that for good long time now, she reinforced it when she asked him about Meckel, offered her sorrows for a man she'd never meet and couldn't know, just because they'd been friends. It was more than his family had done for him, but she always been so much more in tune with him than his family. Her family, the Hawkes, felt more familiar to him than his ever had. He loved her, totally and completely, and whenever he thought about her as a person, it blew him away. He was the luckiest son of a bitch in Thedas, and he kissed her sweet mouth again just to show his appreciation. Sebastian could no longer think of a good reason to stop. He wanted to see where this kiss would leave and follow that path to the end, so long as Melissa wanted that too.

"I love you, Sebastian," Melissa breathed, looking up at him when they broke apart. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Lissa."

That was really all he needed to hear. He loved her too, more than anyone else. Once he was decided on this, their pace was frenzied, and nothing was happening fast enough for more than momentary satisfaction. Clothes were pushed up or taken off, pulled away as they fell back into the couch. One finger slid inside of her, carefully, as they continued to kiss. She grew wetter as he got harder and in what could have been one minute or ten, they were both ready. Melissa looked up at him, eyes sparkling with want as he withdrew his finger, but she didn't say anything. Neither of them did, but Sebastian got himself in the right position, cock just brushing her wet lips and thrust in with no further preamble.

The sound of both of them moaning as they got used to the sensation was quickly replaced with Melissa's renewed moans and muttering as he rolled his hips. Maker and Andraste, it had been such a long time since he'd been inside a woman, so long, but he hadn't forgotten this, that first thrust, the feeling of being so pleasantly surrounded in velvety heat. And when he looked down, it was Melissa, whom he loved beneath him, her brown eyes simmering with heat and affection. It somehow made it easier and more strange at the same time.

In his mind he saw her, the way he'd admired her from a distance in class, and standing disinterestedly with a warm beer in her hands at a KSE party almost a year before with a broken heart. He remembered her kissing him under an oak tree at the end of the summer, and laughing with her mother and sister at Satinalia. He saw her in a million different moments, sleepy in his bed, making tea, with a sinus infection, and Sebastian couldn't help but kiss her then, capturing her mouth as he thrust harder inside of her, feeling Lissa's excitement build as he repeated the movement again.

"I've wanted you for so long," he muttered, and she laughed against his mouth.

Sebastian thrust again as he let his thoughts dissipate, and though he hadn't meant to go faster, her legs had curled up around him and she was urging him on. He felt her hand between them, her knuckles brushed the base of his cock as her fingers circled her clit, but there was no delicacy in either of them. He kept going, it was all he could do in the close confines of the couch, though he regretted that he couldn't see more of Lissa. Sebastian could feel her, her hips countering his, the feeling of her heels on his back, her thighs pressed against him, and their lips met in as many kisses as he could manage.

It was quick, he knew it would be, it had been literal years for him, but Sebastian lasted longer than he'd thought he would. It was all over for him after Melissa came, shuddered and hot, quick work with her hand making her tense up and then release, all honeyed heat around his cock after she clenched so tightly that she trigged his orgasm. He had only a few more thrusts in him after it began, and then he too was panting, languid and aware of how uncomfortable the couch truly was.

He'd meant to pick a better venue for this moment, make it special. In his mind, he'd planned a romantic trip away where they had all the time in the world, not this frantic romp on a battered old couch, but he couldn't find it in himself to be sorry for it. The wide grin he couldn't wipe away even if he'd wanted to, which he did not, was too pleased with himself to look for any real regrets. Instead of laying down, Sebastian kissed her shoulder before he pushed up and withdrew his spent cock from within her.

He needed to sit up, to get himself out of the corners of the couch he'd sunk into, but mostly, he wanted to breathe. Everything around them was the taste of Melissa's skin and the scent of them hanging heavy in the air, heady perfume that beguiled as easily as it choked. He felt like he could barely remember how to count to ten, but the dizzy, lightheaded euphoria wasn't unwelcome or unwanted. Sebastian's perma-grin slid into a satisfied smirk as they both came to their senses, and he rubbed a hand across the bare, warm expanse of her stomach. She smiled up at him, lazy, happy, sated and he kissed the nearest part of her, her knee, in answer.

He didn't quite have the words for this moment, so he let them recover in silence. Melissa broke it, getting up and finding her clothes in the heap they'd left them in on the floor. His pants weren't entirely off, he started to take them off, but only got one leg out and they slid down the other to his ankles. He righted them and pulled them up, adequately dressed and not bothering to find his shirt. She pulled on her shirt and panties, then straddled his lap, much to Sebastian's delight.

"I love you, Sebastian," she said, touching her forehead to his.

"I love you too, Melissa. More than anything."

They sat together, her on his lap, and he lazily stroking her back with one hand. She moved to rest her head on his shoulder, and he closed his eyes. The long braid of Melissa's hair was still mostly intact and it draped over him to lay against his bare back. He could almost fall asleep like this, with her breath tickling the tiny hairs at the nape of his neck, and his heart returning to its normal, peaceful beat. He'd never ever felt like this in the past, not with anyone. Part of him was overwhelmed with the sense of intimacy, the closeness they were sharing. But the panic that threatened to rise in him was beat back by the deep feeling of rightness that same intimacy provided. This, they, were good together in every way.

"Gavin asked me to think about something," Sebastian said to her. He had so many more things he wanted to say to her, things he'd thought of to say before this moment, but right now he only could think of this one.

"Gavin?" she asked, lifting her head and drawing away so she could see him better. As she moved, her hips shifted against his, and despite their frantic bout just moments ago, Sebastian felt himself start to stir again.

"My therapist."

"Oh. Right, right. I don't think you've ever told me his name before."

"Huh, I thought I had. Well, before Satinalia, he asked me to explore why I wanted to marry you. Why I was so insistent on it now. It's because I love you."

Melissa laughed softly, kissing the corner of his mouth. He caught her chin and kissed her back before she spoke. "We don't need to be married to be in love."

"I know, Liss, but I saw you, that day with Wall-Eyed Sam. _You_. How fierce you are in protecting your family, how much you love, and I knew if it were me or Isabela, you still would have done the same, been just as relentless. You never falter, not ever, not in anything. But in case you ever do, in case you need a rest I wanted to be there, to be the person for you that doesn't need rescuing. Just a partner, an equal. I wanted to make sure that we can be a balance for each other, forever. I know marriage doesn't mean the same thing to you, but I'm willing to wait until you're happy and established and secure enough that you want to make that leap with me. I'll wait until we're old and grey if that's what it takes," he told her and blew out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "I can weather seasons and years with you, for as long as you'll have me."

"Sebastian," she said, her voice shaking. She took his face in her hands and closed her eyes before meeting his, "I love you so much, you know that. Just as you are, with your past, and for all your dreams and romantic heart. And one day, yes, Maker, yes. Not now, but I'm glad to know why you kept talking about it. But do me a favor?" she asked, and he tilted his head to listen. "Keep asking me."

He broke out into a smile. "Of course." She kissed him to seal the deal, her lips light as he put an arm around her, snaking it up her back and into her hair.

"We should probably get up," she said, but Sebastian held her in place.

"I can go again," Sebastian said, and he shifted his hips slightly to substantiate his claim with the burgeoning hardness that was beginning to arise again. Maker, yes, now that they'd had sex, he wanted more. He caught her lips in a kiss, the softness it started with turning into banked heat as it went on. "But it's your choice."

"Not on the couch again," she said, and sadly, got up off of his lap. Melissa held out a hand to him and he took it. "In bed this time, all proper and with plenty of room to explore. Show me the product of all those bad boy years, Sebastian."

He was more than happy to oblige her on that count.

#

They needed to get up.

Since they'd started having sex, roughly less than a day ago, they'd had it three times. Well, four, since they'd just finished on the couch again. It wasn't the most comfortable place, but he bent her over the back of it and that, wow, that worked wonders for both of them. She'd been missing out, apparently, and Sebastian was going to show her just how much she had to learn. Maker, she'd never given much thought to positions before, it was always more about what was convenient at the moment. She hadn't ever had the luxury to plan out most of her encounters, they'd just happened or they had to be quick, because of circumstances and no privacy.

Sebastian was seducing her, and she was so thoroughly willing to be seduced for the first time in her life. He told her what he wanted in heated, passionate whispers, and by Andraste, he made it good for both of them. And he asked her too, all kinds of questions, though Melissa was already talkative and gave directions. It was one of the things she'd learned from Lucas Hartmann all those years ago. Specificity helped everyone have a much better time, though Sebastian was very close to not needing her to say anything at all. Sebastian hadn't needed her to tell him what she wanted that afternoon when she pulled him into yet another kiss, and told him to take her anyway he wanted. She'd been so pleasantly surprised when he bent her over the couch instead of setting her on it, and that was before he'd really truly started.

Afterwards, she could still feel him, the hands that went everywhere as she was bent over, with him filling her so deeply she could only grunt her pleasure until it cracked wide open and made her come with a hoarse scream. That in itself was an accomplishment, because she wasn't much of a screamer most of the time. She came so hard it made the world spin, and even breathing normally felt like an accomplishment. Sebastian was still whispering to her, even as he stroked her hair and she drifted somewhere between sleep and wakefulness. They'd collapsed onto the sofa, her laying naked on top of Sebastian until she got cold, and she pulled the blanket over both of them.

It was amazing thing, sleeping with Sebastian. Melissa wasn't going to lie to herself and try to believe that just because she wanted it and waited for it and the waiting made it good. It was amazing because Sebastian was very, very good at it, despite the years between their incredible snowstorm and his last encounter. They had their awkwardness, the things that didn't work for either of them, but they'd also spent most of the fall semester determinedly getting to know each others bodies in every way but penetration.

They were having some fairly amazing sex.

They probably would have gone on having sex all over the apartment until the snow melted and spring came, but Isabela unexpectedly came home. The streets were cleared by the traditional methods of plowing and salting, but then fire mages came and removed much of the excess. Not too much, otherwise the balance of the sea would be thrown off when flooded with freshwater, but enough so the streets would be passable once the white-out snow stopped. Isabela had found a way home before the true end of the snow, but she was good at navigating storms. Melissa didn't hear the key in the door until it was almost open, because she'd been mesmerized by the synchroncity of their breathing, of the spooling languor that flowed through her body as she and Sebastian lay together. Suddenly awake and aware that Isabela was going to see her laying across Sebastian's bare chest and just know everything, she had to get up.

Sebastian's arm was thrown across her back and he pressed it into her to hold her down when she tried to hastily get up. "If you get up now, love, you're either going to run in their naked or you're taking the blanket and leaving me out here naked. Neither of those is a good option. Stay put."

He was right, and with not a small amount of trepidation, she lay back down on him just before the door swung open. Melissa's bare feet grew very cold as the air from the hallway blew in and she shifted under the blanket, bringing them closer to Sebastian and his warmth. She closed her eyes, anticipating the razor sharp quip that would come from Isabela when she caught them.

"Hawke!" Isabela called, then looking down at the pair of them on the couch, gave a sultry chuckle that seemed to Melissa to sound a little smug. Melissa couldn't see her, but she heard Bela behind her, standing between the couch and the door, taking off her boots and coat. "Oh look, I found you. Hi there, Sebastian. You are covered in a lot of chest hair, aren't you, doll?"

"Isabela," Sebastian said evenly, as if he'd just run into her casually, and wasn't naked and groping Melissa under the blanket. She swatted at his wandering hands, and his lips twitched with a barely suppressed grin.

"You two look so comfortable, I almost hate that I had to come home, and I am sorry to interrupt what was clearly a very good time. Anyway, I brought half-price cake as a way of saying thanks for dealing with Luis's terrible ex-wife, and Felice," She said, laughing raucously at her own joke and to cover her surprise at finding them both naked on the couch. "I'll leave it in the kitchen so the two of you can go on with your naked cuddling."

"Thanks, Bela," Melissa managed to say before Isabela left them, going first to the kitchen and then pointedly closing the door to her room. Melissa let out a tense breath as Sebastian started to laugh.

"Are you okay?" he asked, and in answer she buried her face in his chest.

"I never want to do that again."

"I thought you liked a little exhibition?" he asked softly, as she sat up, blanket falling down her back. She was a little sweaty where she'd been laying against Sebastian, and her breasts caught the light as she started to move away from him.

"I don't like getting caught," she hissed, and then stopped. It was embarrassment making her testy, not his question, so she leaned back down and kissed him. "That wasn't your fault, and I apologize. Let's get up."

"When we move in together, we'll have our choice of bedrooms, and no interruptions," he said wistfully, making her laugh as she got up and went behind the couch to fetch the clothes they'd carelessly discarded not too long before.

"With privacy windows?" she asked hopefully, and Sebastian laughed.

"If you insist."

She tossed him his boxer shorts and he stood to put them on, catching his flying pants with a quick, reflexive grab before they hit him in the face. Melissa slipped into her own clothes, raked a hand through her tousled hair and turned to him. "I should go talk to Bela."

"I love you, Liss," he reminded her, making her soften with a smile.

"I know, Sebastian. Wait for me in my room?" she asked, and he nodded.

She didn't bother to knock on Bela's door, opening it and then sliding into the room with a slightly guilty grin on her face. She rested a hip against the doorframe and waited. Isabela looked up from where she sat with her laptop in the middle of the bed and said, "I should have realized and texted you first. After the holiday the two of you seemed perilously close to, this." She waved her hands towards the living room and grinned at her. "How was it?"

"Which time?" Melissa asked, raising her eyebrows at Isabela. They both burst into laughter, and the sound of shattered the lingering remains of awkwardness that Melissa felt after Isabela's entrance. "I'm sorry about the couch, I mean, that we were on it," she wheezed, but Bela waved a dismissive hand at her.

"I've banged on that couch more than once. It's fine. He's lovely, Hawke. I've seen him without a shirt before, but Maker have mercy, his shoulders are something, aren't they? Lovely and broad, and nicely muscled. Good arms too. Not that I have anything but a friendly interest in your love, but Sebastian seems like he was certainly worth waiting for."

"He is, or rather, he was. I love him so much, Bela."

"I know, sweet thing. And he loves you, that much is obvious. I'm so happy you two are happy." She snorted at herself and then laughed. "I always hated that saying, but I understand it now. You're glowing, and you were never the glowy type before, not even with the dreaded ex and, well, you look even happier than you did after Satinalia when he gave you a fortune in jewelry."

Melissa wasn't really ready to think about that, because Satinalia, moving in together and now this, it seemed like they were headed towards something they hadn't actually discussed. It was better to put it away and think about it later, when she wasn't busy learning all of the ways Sebastian could make her scream his name.

"Where were you stuck when the snow hit?" she asked.

"The Hanged Man. I took a room and just played cards with Varric and Fenris. Better than being stuck in the dorms, but the smell, you know how it is, it started to get to me. I figured once the snow broke a little, I could find some brave soul to get me here."

"It stopped snowing?" Melissa asked, craning her neck up to look out the window.

"Sort of taking a break, I suppose. Doesn't matter. Look, I have a question to ask, and it's serious, not like super serious, but I need a favor really."

"What's up?" Melissa asked, a little wary.

"I bought a car. It's not here now, I wouldn't have it come in the snow, but I am tired of buses and begging rides and shit. So my car will be here next week, and I know you'll love it, I do, but I can't take it with me this summer when I'm on the boat, obviously. You'll drive it, won't you?"

"Of course," Melissa replied, smiling at her. "Is that all? You seemed very worried for just a car."

"I love the car! It's named 'the Siren'. Beautiful thing, I picked out all the options at the dealership. Wood grain in the steering wheel, the luxury sport package, super fast and beautiful." Isabela sighed wistfully, looking off into the distance and losing herself for a minute. "I want it to be safe," Isabela added. "Is there anything to eat here? Or are we going to have to start cooking, Maker forbid."

"There's plenty of stuff here, Sebastian went shopping before the storm hit. And your half-price cake is in there," Melissa answered and turned towards the wall that was shared with her own room and yelled, "Sebastian!"

When there were no sounds of any movement, Isabela threw a shoe at the wall. The loud thump brought forth an exclamation and some muttered curses, then Melissa called for him again. Sebastian appeared in the doorway, regrettably wearing a shirt, a few seconds later. He had headphones around his neck, and she smiled at him as he slipped an arm around her waist. He'd been trying to give them some privacy to talk.

"You called?" he asked, his amused look spread between both her and Isabela.

"We want dinner. Are you hungry?" Melissa asked.

"Starving, but there's still plenty in the kitchen. I can go heat up some food," he said. He started to leave but turned back to them, "It's snowing again. It's not a bad idea to get fantastically drunk to pass the time."

"I've got weed," Isabela said immediately, reaching for the large purse that was slung over the post of her bed. She either didn't carry a bag or used a huge one, there was no inbetween with her. This one had the fancy repeating pattern of a designer all over it, and Isabela was rummaging through it, taking out pens, a battered notebook, condoms, and small bottles of liquor until she came up with a large plastic bag filled to the top with green buds. It looked like a little more than an ounce, more than enough for the three of them and one weekend.

"Even better," Sebastian said, grinning at her. "It's a proper snowstorm now."

"This is what we're doing tonight?" Melissa asked, sounding exasperated, even though she'd already inwardly given into the plan.

"We're here to keep your life interesting, sweet thing. Without me and your honey boy, you'd be in your room looking for more homework even thought classes are out," Isabela said.

"Looking for a job," Sebastian offered.

"Writing the bylaws for her foundation," Isabela said.

"Paying taxes early," Sebastian added, his eyes twinkling. She rubbed her back against him to make him shut up, but he only gave a surprised laugh when she did it. The next time she tried, he guided her efforts with the flat of his hand and Melissa wisely decided to give up before they started something in front of Bela.

"Researching grad schools," Isabela said, interrupting the silent battle between them.

"Reading an investment prospectus."

"Doing unnecessary exercise that didn't include handsome boyfriends," Isabela said, cackling. Sebastian matched her laugh, and Melissa marveled that she hadn't noticed how alike the two of them were before. They were alike, but two different patterns cut from the similar cloth. Not too alike though, even if their shared laughter indicated otherwise.

"All right, you two, stop," Melissa said, smiling even as she cringed inwardly. Those were all excellent ideas of things to do, and she couldn't help it if she kept herself busy. It paid to be prepared. "If we're going to waste the night, we should get started."

"It's us that's going to be wasted, love, get it right," Sebastian said, releasing her so he could go to the kitchen and get started with the food and wine. When he left, Isabela rose from her bed, as graceful as any queen and gave her a look.

"You know," Isabela said, getting up from the bed, "he might just be worth marrying."

"No, stop it now. We've had this conversation and if we're to have it again I'll need to be good and drunk."

"There are worse things to be besides a princess with an adoring and debauched husband, if you must know," Isabela said lightly and laughed, "but we should get in there, I have a feeling he'll start drinking the wine without us."

When they went into the kitchen and saw Sebastian doing just that, neither of them could hold in their laughter. Melissa started the food herself, smiling as Sebastian poured wine and Isabela cut the cake. She always started with dessert first, and Melissa was starting to understand why.


End file.
